So I purchased this Origin 200 from a craigslist ad over a year ago for $100. It was a garage sale that had multiple computers and tech stuff. I saw the Origin and had to go look at it. The guy lived in Thousand Oaks and said his company used to develop things for SGI and that they sent them this Origin 200 to develop with.

Since I am clearing out old stuff today (no, I'm not getting rid of any SGI stuff) I thought I would finally take a look at this thing.

All the lower drive bays are filled except slot two has a blank instead of a sled.

Bottom slide says 6.5.15f which I assume is an Irix version.

I see two CPUs and it looks like the part number 013-2382-002 corresponds with 225mhz r10k as far as SGI parts lists I could find online.

It is quite pristine except for the fact that there are small pockets of dust around the vents in the back. He said it was in his garage to develop with for about three months then not used much again.

So now.... what to do with it?

I know that Maya 6.5 was the first release to implement network CPUs to help in rendering. So I might be able to set it up as extra render cores for Mental Ray or at least Maya software renderer.

But.. First off. Is learning how to get the o2 or Octane to talk to it. (Octane cpu/mxe card coming tomorrow I think).

Since these were not built with a graphical output I have to drive it from another SGI or computer right?

I use mine as an install server. I think it's too loud to run for long times (or at least I don't want to be in the same room).

Except for the serial console you can use remote X11 using another SGI or e.g. a Windows PC and Xming. Only the IRIX X server speaks the DGL extension and without it some utilities like gr_osview or jot don't work on older IRIX versions (I think < 6.5.22).

To accentuate the special identity of the IRIS 4D/70, Silicon Graphics' designers selected a new color palette. The machine's coating blends dark grey, raspberry and beige colors into a pleasing harmony. (IRIS 4D/70 Superworkstation Technical Report)